The Way Things Should Be
by cavlik97
Summary: "There were a lot of things that still needed to be sorted out but for now, Alex was back, so at least one thing was the way it should be." Nikita/Alex friendship. Post 2x11 oneshot.


Nikita quickly typed a password into her laptop, quickly entering the private, heavily secure email that Birkhoff had set up for himself, Michael, Nikita and Owen. Seeing Ryan was CIA, they didn't want to risk getting him involved and they weren't sure how trustworthy Alex was so hadn't set up one for her either. She scanned through the inbox. There was stuff about the black boxes that Birkhoff had sent her...information that he kept digging up from hacking into Guardian's computers and Percy's old hard drive that Amanda hadn't managed to decrypt.

'Hey,' Alex said, running the towel through her damp hair, returning from the shower. 'What are you doing?'

'Checking if Birkhoff's found anything useful on the black boxes,' Nikita answered. 'How's the hand?'

'Like I said before,' Alex said with a roll of the eyes. 'It looks worse than it is. Just a shallow knife cut.'

Nikita let it go, especially as she remembered a time when Michael would constantly worry over any injuries she would get and she would insist that she was fine. Another thing that reminded Nikita of the similarities between Alex and herself.

'Found anything?' Alex asked, interrupting Nikita's thoughts.

'Nope,' the older agent said with a sigh. 'God, I hope Michael and Owen get back soon with the black box they found. We need leverage against Division and Percy.'

'I'll say,' muttered Alex. 'That idea of letting Percy escape and shooting him? Becoming more and more appealing. Is there anything in the fridge?'

'Probably some left over pizza,' Nikita said. She heard that squeak of the fridge door opening and then Alex's shriek which made her whirl round, reaching for her gun. A clattering of tiny footsteps raked through the room and even Nikita jumped back as a massive rat came running over the tiled floors.

'Ew,' Alex complained. 'I always hated rats.'

'Yeah, same,' Nikita said, making a face. 'Michael can be the exterminator when he gets back.'

This earned a smile from both women as they pictured Michael in an exterminator's suit, running around trying to catch a rat.

'I am _so _not eating that pizza if a rat's been in there,' Alex said flatly. Nikita smirked, reaching for her phone to text Michael.

_hey, it's nik. Can u pick up sumthing 2 eat on ur way bak? There's a rat in the fridge & there's no way in hell I'm eating rat pizza. _ She hit send, tossing the phone back to the kitchen counter. Soon, she received a reply.

_a rat? In the fridge? What type of safe house have u got for yourselves? and ok, I'll get pizza. _

'Hey, Nikita?' Alex asked, her voice unusually soft and quiet. Nikita glanced back. 'Yeah?'

'What's up with you and Michael?' The younger agent took an opportunity at her mentor's silence to continue.

'Like, seriously, last time I saw you, you were all badass couple who are taking down a black ops program. Now, you're like, hey, we used to be a couple but there's something going on that makes things incredibly awkward and there's like, shit loads of sexual tension every time the two of us are in a room.' Alex grimaced. 'Oh my God, that's what it must've been like when you were a recruit at Division..' She shook off the sudden realisation. 'Just, explain?'

Nikita sighed. 'Michael...has a son.'

If Alex was expecting anything...Michael having a son wasn't even _close. _She looked like she was about to faint. 'You're _pregnant_?' she gasped. Nikita laughed. 'No, no, no. Michael's son is from Belarus. Max. He's six. Michael had an affair type relationship with someone involved in a Division mission six years ago. I found out before he did and Cassandra begged me to keep it a secret. I tried to but then I realised I had to tell him. When I did, he went running off to London, where they'd relocated, to see him. We soon figured out, or were told, that Cassandra was an English spy...'

Alex blinked, holding up two hands to get Nikita to pause. 'This is like a freaking Hollywood movie. You should sell these ideas to the directors. Why are they coming up with crappy story boards when this gold is happening in the underworld of America!'

Nikita chuckled lowly. 'Yeah, except then they'd probably hire us to come up with all their ideas. Anyway...as we were heading away from Max and Cassandra's place, I told Michael he had to make a choice...'

'You _what_?' Alex yelped. 'Are you freaking insane?'

'And he chose Max.'

'He _what_? Can I punch him?'

'Wha..Alex, no!'

'Come _on_, he chose Max over you? That's a total jackass move!'

'Alex.'

'Yeah?'

'So now, he wants to talk about where we stand and what's going on with us.' Nikita let out a huge sigh. Alex took a seat beside her on the kitchen counter. 'Are you okay?' she asked softly. Nikita shrugged. 'I...I don't know. I mean, I still love him. Like crazy. And I know he still loves me but...he's already lost Hayley. I don't think he wants to risk not being able to see Max.'

'He's being hypocritical,' Alex said coolly. 'Talking about not getting involved with civilians. To me. To you when you were an agent.'

'This is different,' Nikita reminded. 'This isn't just a relationship...this is family.'

'You're his family too, though,' Alex said. 'Or was that just talk about buying some fancy house after this is all over and settling down with a German Shepard and a view over looking a beach?'

Nikita raised one eyebrow. 'Very intuitive,' she praised jokingly, 'but no. Those plans are frozen for a very long time it seems.' She felt a sadness build up in her chest but she shook it off. No. She couldn't focus on relationship issues right now.

'I'm starving,' Alex complained. 'When the hell are the boys going to get back with the pizza?'

'I have Chinese,' a voice offered and both females glanced up and smiled at Birkhoff, who descended down the stairs.

'Gimme, _now_,' Alex ordered, jumping over the railing and snatching the Chinese out of Birkhoff's hand.

'Oi!' the techy whined, making a useless lunge for his food but Alex expertly swerved out of the way, exchanging a smirk with Nikita. Nikita ignored Birkhoff's angry protests as he followed Alex down the stairs, listing long reasons of why he should be able to have his food to himself.

'Oh shut up, nerd,' Alex grinned in between two mouthfuls of chow mein. Birkhoff's eyes narrowed and he scowled. 'Give me that,' he growled at Nikita, grabbing the laptop. 'I'll be decrypting Percy's files if anyone wants me.'

'Michael's bringing pizza, you can have Alex's!' Nikita called as a promise as he disappeared up the stairs. There was a loud laugh from up the stairs at Alex's immediate complaints.

'Let him have half of your share,' Nikita bargained. 'He's recovering from Amanda's torture.'

'He's going to play that card for the rest of our lives,' Alex said. 'You do know that, right?'

'He'll give up when he figures out that it won't change anything soon enough,' Nikita smiled. She glanced across at Alex. 'How was Division?'

Alex chuckled, though there was nothing funny at all about anything, really. 'Interesting,' she said cryptically. 'Having Amanda as the boss is different.'

'I can imagine for the worst?' Nikita guessed. Alex's eyes narrowed. 'Very much so.' She hesitated. 'I...I was lost,' she confessed. 'I had no idea what I was doing this time. Last time I was in there, I knew my aim. Find out about the missions, relay it back to you, get out of Division and help you take them down. Now, it was like, I wasn't working with them but they had eyes on me and I was just blindly stumbling into a direction that was practically unknown.'

'There comes a time when I can't guide you through everything anymore,' Nikita said quietly.

'But I needed you to guide me!' Alex burst out. 'I needed your help! It took everything I had, every day not to walk out of Division and beg you to forgive me and take me back to your side! I was...' Her voice cracked slightly. '...I felt like I had noone again...'

Nikita's face softened and she pulled Alex into a hug. At first, the younger agent seemed reluctant to show her weakness but then Nikita felt her relax.

'You'll always have me,' Nikita promised. Alex pulled away. 'You know,' she said, her eyes sparkling with tears but also smiling, 'I was an only child. I would always want to have a sibling because I was so lonely...my parents were too busy with their own lives to listen to me. I didn't have any friends that I could see when I was at home. When you saved me from the drugs, it was like finally, there was someone who actually cared.' She gave Nikita a thankful smile. 'I guess you were like the older sister I'd always wanted.'

'When I was ten,' Nikita said, 'I was in a foster home with five older brothers. None of us were related and they had loads of fun picking on me and beating me up for the first few months. Then, I got the eldest to teach me how to defend myself. He taught me kick boxing and they didn't bother me ever again. Even though they teased me and made fun of me, if I was in trouble at school or on my way home, they would look after me and protect me. It really sucked being the youngest when we were back home, though...and then when I went to my next home, I was an only child. I wanted to be able to look out for someone the same way the guys looked out for me. When I figured out where you were, I took that opportunity. You were like a little sister that I had to protect.'

'Glad we see eye to eye,' Alex said with a soft smile. There was the bang of the front door that interrupted the conversation and Owen and Michael's voice rang through the house. Nikita smiled to herself as the men headed down the stairs. She would have to sort out what was happening between her and Michael and then there would be what to do with this black box...but at least, now, Alex was back and one thing was the way it should be.

**A/N: Hey "Alkita" fans. Let's get one thing straight, I am NOT a femslash fan, I am an Alkita friendship fan because I think it's the best on the show! They are the best two characters ever (but I involved Birkhoff because I love him as well.) The couples I support are Mikita and Salex, just letting you know... **

**I just hope you liked this story:) It's my first story for this archive. **

**Read and review! **


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